Shoot-out at the Tal Afar Corral

Submitted by Eric Daniel

Pistols are great.  There is simply no better way to describe them.  I think everyone ought to be issued one and it’s a shame that they aren’t.  Whether you’re searching a confined space such as a basement or closet, dealing with detainees, or simply want the security of knowing that if you ever experience a malfunction with your long gun, you can go to the pistol rather than fight your rifle and the bad guys at the same time.

Unfortunately, pistols don’t carry themselves.  You need to pack it around (in our case it was Glock-19s that we’d gotten from the Iraqi Police), and the easiest, most convenient way of doing that is with a holster.  For us, that meant either clipping the holster to our IBA, which meant you had to wear the IBA 24/7 if you needed to take your pistol anywhere or you needed to run the holster through your belt, which meant that you had this tumor on your hip where ever you went.

Hearkening back to my days of watching Adam-12, I opted to go the route of the police duty belt; I’d get a separate belt that could accommodate my holster, extra magazines, and what ever else I might want to sling, but since this belt wasn’t attached to either my armor or my pants, I could take it off when I didn’t need it.

My belt of choice was the Eagle Industries duty belt.  It was simple, straightforward, and easy to operate.  Made from nylon and velcro, it was neigh on indestructible.  My holster of choice was the Safariland Model 6004 tactical.  It too was simple, indestructible, and utterly reliable.

Buy the Eagle duty belt here
Buy the Safariland M6004 holster here

Worth its weight in kevlar

Submitted by Eric Daniel

When I deployed to Iraq this last go around, I was issued the Interceptor vest and SAPI plates.  While I never had an opportunity to evaluate the capabilities of the vest’s armor, thank God, I did have ample opportunity to evaluate the carrier the armor came in.

Long story short, the Interceptor carrier sucks.  My biggest beef with it is the fact that ergonomically, it’s very inefficient, and like many pieces of Army equipment, it doesn’t take a good idea far enough.  The idea of putting MOLLE straps on the vest is a good idea; this allows you to tailor your combat load to meet your personal preferences and mission requirements. 

Unfortunately, by virtue of the fact that the Interceptor vest is a front opening system, the biggest load-bearing surface on the vest, your chest and abdomen, is wasted.  MOLLE loops should go all the way across the front, but on the Interceptor, you have them only on the sides.  Moreover, there isn’t a single panel across the sides for MOLLE webbing, rather the front and back panels of the vest overlap.  Again, another opportunity for additional storage is lost.

One carrier I did have the opportunity to check out while deployed though was from Eagle Industries.  These vests were issued to the local ODA team working our area and they were most impressive.  The Eagle vest is a side-entry vest with fully strapped front and side panels; you can hang everything but the kitchen sink on one of these suckers.  In addition, in the event you ever need to ditch the vest in a hurry (you fall in a blue feature or you take a penetrating wound to the chest, for example) there’s a single pull cable incorporated into the vest that will cause the vest to fall away when pulled.

However, excellence doesn’t come cheap.  These vest run $580 a shot, and I doubt your food chain will buy off on purchasing them simply because they’re a brilliant piece of kit, but I figured I’d throw it out there for that very reason – it is a brilliant piece of kit.  Next time I deploy though, I am going to take a long, serious look at picking one of these up.

Buy one here

Silk, it keeps the mud out

Submitted by John Fleming -

During the opening of OIF I deployed into Northern Iraq up into the mountains. Unlike the rest of Iraq this area is very cold, wet and windy in the winter/spring. While living in the wheat fields there it was a soupy combination of water, mud, and snow that continually got in our gear and our bags- due to the combat environment we slept in our gear sometimes boots on and it wreaked havoc on most folks sleeping bags- not mine- I brought a silk bag liner from REI and besides keeping my bag a lot warmer it also kept it clean from all the grit and junk that can not only make the bag uncomfortable but also reduce it's insulating properties. Every morning I would get up pull out my liner- shake it clean and then give it a light rinse- it would be dry in an hour or so- less if hung in open sunlight- so every night I had a warm clean place to sleep. Great for keeping your morale up.

Buy a silk bag liner here

From swagman to SF, these gloves rock

Submitted by Stuart Owens

The Hatch CQB glove is amazing. It's made of Kevlar with a kangaroo skin palm. The cuff is long enough to cover your watch and fits nicely under your ACU cuff. The fabric is thin enough that you can do most tasks (including shooting) without removing the glove. I spent 3 months in training and 12 months operating in Iraq with these. I still have the pair (although they are nearly black now), and they still go to the field with me every time. Great gloves.

Buy a pair here

Goldilocks and the 3 Bag Liners

Submitted by Rusty Rodke

When my niece deployed to Iraq, I asked her if there was any gear she needed. She said that she was sleeping in her sleeping bag every night and, while she could send it off to be cleaned, it was awkward and cold to do without it for the three days it took to get it back. By having a couple of liners, she could wash one locally while sleeping in the other. Silk, fleece or polypro liners would add 10 to 15 degrees of warmth, but cotton was more comfortable in the heat and could be used by itself on really warm nights. REI has a good selection of liners.

Sleeping bag liner

Clean as a Whistle -- The OTIS tactical cleaning kit

Submitted by J. Balboni

During SAFS assembly, (sniper school for everybody) the old pros showed me the gun-cleaning tool that's issued for "SPECIAL military personnel" and is used by civilian professionals. It is designed so that you can PULL a med/loose patch to get the majority of contaminants out, or, the tightest patch you can imagine to clean the corners of the lands! You run a CLEAN patch through every time, not a piece of rope crammed with abrasive carbon, metal & crud that abrades your barrel! Even civilian pros would never use a dirty rope (it's clean for the first pass only, after that, it’s dirty bud.)  Those in the know, use an OTIS. When you pull the coated cable, it’s not touching anything! The only thing touching the bore is a clean patch! Take care of your stuff properly, and it will take care of you. Oh, and it's all in one small pouch, the size of a sm. bagel, AND has everything you need to clean a 9 mm, 12 Ga., 7.62, or a 5.56, patches, oil, and a BORE LIGHT!

OTIS tactical cleaning kit